“Ask the question anyway, you might just learn something. ” – Jeff Bajorek in today’s Tip 1139
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today, Jeff Bajorek is back, in more ways than one. Jeff helps B2B sales teams maximize performance by reframing their approach, their selling skills, and their mindset around their purpose. He helps them rethink the way they sell by reminding them of what needs to be done, showing them how to do it, and then making them believe they can. When he’s not at work, you can find him on a golf course, or cooking something delicious for his family. Here he is:
Jeff Bajorek: A lot of people are getting new jobs right now. I’m seeing the posts on LinkedIn, I’m seeing people share and comment, and it’s really exciting. There are a few things more exciting in life, certainly not very many in professional life than that fresh start and that feeling that you’ve got a blank slate and you can go conquer the world. And that’s just such an exciting thing. It’s really easy to get wrapped up in that. And while I’m thinking about so many people getting new jobs, I think this is an appropriate place for me to share a couple of things I’ve learned that I don’t think happened when people get new jobs. These are things that I know to be very valuable. I’ve done them myself. I’ve counseled my clients to do them themselves and yet so many people miss these. And just when I think I can take these kinds of things for granted, my clients show me that I shouldn’t. So I want to share them with you here and hopefully, you can take a couple of things away.
First thing, talk to the successful reps in those companies. And you know what? Maybe you are the first hire for the sales team and there is no you’re hoping to be that person. Well, great. Then maybe this part doesn’t apply to you. Hit Snooze for 30 seconds and I’ll get to the next part. But talk to the reps who have come before you, particularly the ones who have succeeded, and ask them why. Ask them what they’re doing that’s working. Ask them what they did that didn’t work. Ask them what they thought would work, but didn’t. And then dig into why. Speculate a little bit, brainstorm a little bit. What will this do for you? This will help you to create some context around what’s really going on in your marketplace. And there’s always a bit of a gap between what the company tells you when they’re messaging and what really happens on the ground, on the front lines out there with your customers. There’s always at the very least, there’s increased nuance for the decision-making or context that impacts the decision-making on behalf of your customers that, quite frankly, companies can’t address in their messaging. So it’s really easy to get carried away and take the company line and forget about the people who are making the decisions. The best reps in your company appreciate that. They understand that. They know that and they’re willing to share. So buy those people a cup of coffee, right? Ask them for their time. They’re going to want to help you because they’re going to want to see you succeed. So that’s the first thing I would recommend.
The second thing I would recommend is to go to your customers, go to the book of business that you inherited, or talk to those top reps and then ask if you can interview their customers with them along with you if you like. And this is not about stealing any business, but this is about understanding, again, why people are buying. Look, you’ve probably heard me say this before, but if I lined up a hundred sales reps and asked them all Why their best customers buy from them, 5 would get it right because they’ve asked, 15 would guess right because they pay pretty good attention and they’re pretty intuitive and they’re good salespeople so they understand the things they need to pay attention to. And so they probably guessed right. But 80 would be shocked. And I know as you’re listening to this right now, you’re thinking you’re one of the 15, you know, you haven’t asked directly. So if you haven’t asked, you really don’t know. But oh, I’m pretty good. I’m close. I’ve got good relationships, right?
Listen, every one of those 80 people thinks they’re one of the 15 people. So let me just remind you of that. And I’m also going to remind you that whenever you ask a question like that, you get meaningful insight. You get valuable information. So ask the question anyway, you might just learn something. So those are my two quick suggestions for you, anyone. If it’s you listening to this and you want to learn to be a top performer in your company or you’ve got a friend who just got a new gig and they want to be a top performer in their company. These are two things that often get overlooked but are really simple to do and you can thank me later for the benefits.
Scott Ingram: Go check out Jeff’s brand new podcast, Rethink The Way You Sell, it just launched this week and you’ll find it everywhere you listen to your podcasts, including where you’re listening to this right now, but you can always click over to DailySales.Tips/1139 and we’ll have a link for you there as well. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!